Oct. 1, 2002, 17:00 PDT (FTW)
-- The Bush Administration and its supporters have been
waging a war of rhetoric promoting war with Iraq since
shortly after 9-11. And beyond all the talk from U.S.
politicians, American and British warplanes have increasingly
attacked Iraqi targets since early this year. The following
timeline documents significant events as this war of words
evolves into military action.

1. November 2001 -- January
2002 - Bush foreign policy and security advisers, including
Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, and Condoleeza Rice, say
Saddam poses the greatest danger to the U.S. and should
be the next target in the war on terrorism. Unnamed diplomatic
and Pentagon sources say through press reports that the
CIA and Defense Department are making plans for an Iraqi
military campaign. The president remarks that Saddam will
"find out" the consequences of refusing to allow United
Nations weapons inspectors to return to Iraq. [Sources:
Washington Times, USA Today, New York Times and
the Observer (U.K.)]

3. Jan. 29, 2002 - President Bush refers to Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as the "axis of
evil" in his first state of the union address. He alleges
these nations possess weapons of mass destruction, which
will become a familiar battle cry against Saddam over
the next year.

4. February 2002 - Vice President Dick Cheney prepares to visit the Middle Eastern nations
of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, and Kuwait, all of which
border Iraq. On Cheney's trip Bush remarks, "There's nothing
like looking somebody in the eye and letting them know
that when we say we're going to fight terror, we mean
it." Also in February on a trip to Japan, Bush reportedly
tells the Japanese prime minister "We'll attack Iraq.
We'll do it definitely."[Sources: The Guardian
(U.K.), Kyodo News]

6. March 11-13, 2002 -As
Cheney travels on his Middle East trip, the leaders of
Turkey and Jordan, two scheduled stops on the vice president's
travel agenda, warn a U.S. attack on Iraq could destabilize
the region. Cheney first arrives in London, where British
Prime Minister Tony Blair pledges support for expanding
America's war against terrorism to other nations. Jordan's
King Abdullah meets with Cheney and states publicly that
he does not support a U.S. strike against Iraq. [Source:
Washington Post]

7. March 14, 2002 - President Bush gives his first press conference since 9-11 and says,
"all options are on the table," including nuclear weapons,
to confront states that threaten to use weapons of mass
destruction. Saddam Hussein "is a problem, and we're going
to deal with him." [Source: Washington Post]

8. March 24, 2002 - Democratic Rep. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina is quoted by the State
newspaper as telling a business audience in Columbia,
S.C., "Before the end of the summer or fall, we'll be
in a major entanglement with Iraq." He later said his
comments were conjecture. [Source: Washington Post]

9. April 16, 2002 - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld disputes the effectiveness of a renewed
U.N. arms inspection effort. He claims when inspectors
were in Iraq until 1998, they only saw weapons sites discovered
through intelligence, not information volunteered by Saddam
Hussein. [Source: Washington Post]

11. May 24, 2002 - The six members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who are the highest ranking
members of the U.S. armed forces, publicly criticize the
president's desire for a swift strike against Iraq. The
military commanders express fears that an early invasion
would result in many American casualties, and that a cornered
Saddam Hussein would not hesitate to use biological or
chemical weapons. [Source: London Telegraph]

12. June 20, 2002 - Cheney says Saddam represents a "gathering danger" to the U.S. "Wars
are not won on the defensive," he told an audience at
a Republican fundraiser in Detroit. "We must take the
battle to the enemy anywhere necessary, to preempt greater
stress to our country." [Source: Reuters]

13. July 9, 2002 - Bush tells reporters, "It is the stated policy of this government to
have a regime change [in Iraq], and we'll use all the
tools at our disposal to do so." [Source: Associated
Press]

14. July 21, 2002 - Senators Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., tacitly endorse
"regime change" in Iraq, though under certain conditions.
Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
said on Fox News Sunday that he would be in favor of a
military strike against Saddam Hussein if a link between
the Iraqi leader and Al Qaeda could be established. Levin,
chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said on
CNN's "Late Edition," "We continue to make it clear that
we would like Saddam out of there." But he cautioned,
"Our rhetoric has got to be much more complex, our thought
processes more complex. There are a lot of real problems
here, and the first ones to recognize that...are the uniformed
military leaders, who are very cautious. Much more cautious
than the president's rhetoric." [Source: Associated
Press]

15. July--September 2002 - On numerous occasions, former U.N. Iraqi weapons
inspector Scott Ritter criticizes the Bush Administration
for its Iraq policy. Ritter maintains that Saddam's military
capability is negligible and Bush wants to invade Iraq
for political purposes. [Sources: CNN, Washington
Post, New York Times]

16. early-August 2002 - Members of Congress begin to choose sides on the
Iraq debate more publicly. Republican Senators. Fred Thompson
of Tennessee and Richard Lugar of Indiana come out in
favor of a preemptive U.S. attack. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison,
R-Texas, also chimes in support for Bush's war aspirations.
Rep. Dick Armey, Republican House majority leader from
Texas, breaks ranks with Bush and says the U.S. should
not attack Iraq without legitimate provocation. Democratic
Sen. Carl Levin toughens his anti-war stance, telling
NBC's "Meet the Press" that Saddam does not pose a significant
danger to the U.S. [Source: New York Times, Aug. 11, 2002]

17. Aug. 12, 2002 - The Washington Post runs an opinion article by former Secretary of
State Henry Kissinger that warns of the potentially dangerous
precedent for international relations set by the Bush
Administration's "new principle of preemption." [Source:
Times of India]

18. Aug. 15, 2002 - National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice continues the anti-Saddam
mantra, telling BBC radio, "We certainly do not have the
luxury of doing nothing. We believe the case for regime
change is very powerful." Rice says Saddam had twice come
close to acquiring nuclear weapons and refers to him as
"an evil man who, left to his own devices, will wreak
havoc again on his own population, his neighbors and ,
if he gets weapons of mass destruction and the means to
deliver them, on all of us." [Source: Reuters]

19. mid-August 2002 - The New York Times runs a story outlining the Republican opposition
to the Bush Administration's Iraqi war plans. Some of
the dissenters listed include Brent Scowcroft, George
H. W. Bush's national security adviser, along with Secretary
of State Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, and Republican
Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. Richard Perle, a leading
hawk who chairs the Defense Department's Defense Policy
Board, defends the administration's pro-war stance. "The
failure to take on Saddam after what the president said
would produce such a collapse of confidence in the president
that it would set back the war on terrorism." [Source:
New York Times, Aug. 15, 2002]

20. Aug. 18, 2002 - Richard Perle is quoted in a Washington Post story by political reporter
Dana Milbank headlined, "White House Push for Iraqi Strike
Is on Hold." The subhead reads, "Waiting to Make Case
for Action Allows Invasion Opponents to Dominate Debate."
Perle says, "Timing is everything when you do this. If
you launched [a public campaign] too far in advance and
nothing followed, that would raise questions and fuel
a debate that would not be helpful to the administration...If
you join the debate now, but don't act for months, you
pay a worse price."

21. Aug. 18, 2002 - Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director, says on ABC's
"This Week" that if Bush decides "we need to take action
to minimize the threat that [Saddam] now poses,...he will
do so in a way that will clearly be articulated to the
American people, clearly articulated to our friends and
allies." Bartlett added, "The president hasn't asked for
support because he hasn't made up his mind. But I think
you'll find many people rallying to such a noble cause."
[Source: New York Times]

22. late-August 2002 - The White House begins tempering its hard line position on an Iraqi
invasion as a result of recent criticisms from leading
Republicans in Washington and NATO allies, such as German
Chancellor Gerhard Shroeder. [Source: Stratfor Global
Intelligence Report, Aug. 19, 2002]

23. Aug. 25, 2002 - In a New York Times op-ed, former secretary of state under the president's
father James Baker warns Bush not to "go it alone" against
Saddam. "The costs in all areas will be much greater,
as will the political risks, both domestic and international,
if we end up going it alone or with only one or two countries,"
writes Baker. [Source: CNN, Aug. 26, 2002]

24. Aug. 25, 2002 - The Associated Press releases a story headlined, "White House Lawyers
Say Iraq Decision is Bush's." The story is sourced by
"two senior administration officials speaking on condition
of anonymity" and reports White House counsel Al Gonzales
advised Bush that the Constitution gives the president
authority to wage war without the explicit consent of
Congress. [Source: Associated Press]

25. Aug. 26, 2002 - Cheney tells another group of supporters, this time a veterans group
in Nashville, Tenn., that America "will not live at the
mercy of terrorists or terrorist regimes" and once again
reiterated the warning on Saddam's supposed intentions
to use weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. "What
we must not do in the face of a mortal threat is to give
in to wishful thinking or willful blindness," Cheney said.
The vice president downplays the usefulness of U.N. weapons
inspectors returning to Iraq, saying that would increase
the danger by providing "false comfort." [Sources: Associated
Press, New York Times, Aug. 27, 2002, The Guardian, Sept.
2, 2002]

26. Aug. 27, 2002 - Sen. Chuck Hagel responds to the question of the president's legal status
for committing troops to an Iraqi invasion without Congressional
approval. "I don't play this game so much on what's legal
and what's not legal," said the senator. "If the president
is going to commit this nation to war, he'd better have
the support of the Congress and the American people with
him." [Source: Associated Press]

27. Aug. 28, 2002 - China, a member of the U.N. security council, says it does not support
the use of military force to Iraq to settle its differences
with the U.S.

28. Aug. 29, 2002 - French President Jacques Chirac and Democratic Senators Patrick Leahy
of Vermont and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin decry Bush's
leanings toward a unilateral strike against Iraq. Cheney
tells another veterans group, this one in San Antonio,
Texas, that Bush welcomes a domestic debate on invading
Iraq. "I know that he will proceed cautiously and deliberately
and consider all possible options to deal with the threat
that Iraq ruled by Saddam Hussein represents," said the
vice president.

30. Sept. 2, 2002 - Colin Powell in an interview with the BBC contradicts Cheney's remarks
from the previous week downplaying the return of U.N.
weapons inspectors to Iraq. The secretary of state echoes
the opinion of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the
European Union which holds that inspectors should return
to Iraq as a "fist step" toward dealing with the threat
posed by Saddam. [Source: The Guardian]

31. Sept. 3, 2002 - The New York Times reports that the Veterans Administration (VA) decided
in August to stop marketing its healthcare services to
veterans who may not be aware of them. A VA official told
FTW, "In order to free up hospital bed space and clinic
appointments for wounded soldiers from the war zone in
Iraq, VA halted the outreach and enrollment of new veterans
in the VA healthcare system. Of course, VA and DoD
will deny it, they'll say there's a budget problem."

32. Sept. 8, 2002 - The United Kingdom's Independent reports "more than 100 U.S. and
British aircraft attacked Iraqi air installations
last week in
the biggest raid for more than three years." [Source:
The Independent (U.K.)]

33. Sept. 9, 2002 - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tells CBS's "Face the Nation" that
the U.S. can successfully execute multiple wars at the
same time while maintaining a sound domestic defense.
"We will have, and do have, a capability in the United
States to provide for homeland defense, to undertake a
major regional conflict and win decisively -- including
occupying a country and changing the regime if necessary
-- and simultaneously swiftly defeat another aggressor
in another theater," Rumsfeld said. [Source: New
York Daily News]

34. Sept. 12, 2002 - President Bush addresses the United Nations and states his case for
"regime change" in Iraq. Bush stated clearly that if the
U.N. failed to act, then the U.S. would act alone. Bush's
strategy was to throw a series of un-enforced sanctions
dating back to the Gulf War in the Security Council's
collective face. Few, however, expressed support for military
action to oust Saddam Hussein. [Source: CNN]

37. Sept. 13, 2002 - Reps. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, declare
Saddam's efforts to amass weapons of mass destruction
pose no immediate threat to the U.S., and Bush' real motive
for a military strike is to make a grab for Iraqi oil.
"Oil is a factor. How much [of a factor] is anybody's
guess, but to discount it as a factor is, I think, misleading,"
said Kucinich. "It's not a conspiracy theory to bring
it in because, after all, it is the second largest oil
supply in the world." [Source: CNN]

38. Sept. 14, 2002 - Leading Democratic senators offer support for Bush's aggressive Iraqi
stance. The list includes House Majority Leader Richard
Gephardt of Missouri, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut,
John Edwards of North Carolina, and John Kerry of
Massachusetts.
[Source: Washington Post]

39. Sept. 16, 2002 - Iraq says in a letter to Kofi Annan that it will allow U.N. weapons
inspectors back into the country. In a statement the White
House countered, "This is not a matter of inspections.
It is about disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
and the Iraqi regime's compliance with all other Security
Council resolutions." The statement called the apparent
Iraqi capitulation to U.N. demands a ruse and "a tactic
that will fail." [Source: CNN, Washington Post, Sept.
17, 2002]

40. Sept. 16, 2002 - Nelson Mandela increases his verbal offensive against the Bush Administration
hawks. "What right has Bush to say that Iraq's offer is
not genuine?" asked Mandela. "We must condemn that very
strongly. No country, however strong, is entitled to comment
adversely in the way the U.S. has done. They think they're
the only power in the world. They're not and they're following
a dangerous policy. One country wants to bully the world."
[Source: BBC]

41. Sept. 19, 2002 - President Bush submits a draft of a congressional resolution authorizing
him to take military action against Iraq. Senate Majority
Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., predicts Congress will vote
on the resolution before November elections. The draft
resolution says, "The president is authorized to use all
means that he determines to be appropriate, including
force, in order to enforce the United Nations Security
Council resolutions [pertaining to Iraq], defend the national
security interests of the United States against the threat
posed by Iraq, and restore international peace and security
in the region." [Source: Washington Post]

42. Sept. 20, 2002 - The Bush Administration releases its "National Security Strategy of
the United States" document, which outlines military strategy
for preemptive actions against terrorists and nations
hostile to U.S. interests. The document is the first of
its kind to state that the U.S. will never allow its status
as the world's premiere military super-power to be challenged
as it was during the Cold War. [Source: New York
Times]

43. Sept. 20, 2002 - The president bluntly challenges the United Nations to expedite compliance
from Saddam to completely disarm his weapons of mass destruction
programs. "It is very important that the members
understand that the credibility of the United Nations
is at stake, that the Security Council must be firm in
its resolve to deal with a true threat to world peace,
and that is Saddam Hussein," said Bush. "The United Nations
Security Council must work with the United States and
Britain and other concerned parties to send a clear message
that we expect Saddam to disarm. And if the United Nations
Security Council won't deal with the problem, the United
States and some of our friends will." [Source: Washington
Post]

44. Sept. 21, 2002 - Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., criticizes the administration's proposed
congressional resolution authorizing plans to invade Iraq
on the floor of the Senate. "This administration, all
of a sudden, wants to go to war with Iraq," said Byrd.
"The [political] polls are dropping, the domestic situation
has problems...So all of a sudden we have this war talk,
war fervor, the bugles of war, drums of war, clouds of
war. Don't tell me that things suddenly went wrong. Back
in August, the president had no plans...Then all of a sudden
the country is going to war." [Source: Charleston
Gazette]

45. Sept. 21, 2002 - Iraq says it will not agree to new U.N. Security Council resolutions
favored by the Bush Administration that would require
a deadline for the return of weapons inspectors or consequences
if Iraqis fail to comply with U.N. mandates.

47. Sept. 23, 2002 - Former members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff testify before Congress
and agree that the U.S. should only invade Iraq as a last
resort. "We must be very, very careful about going to
war, and to do so only when all other attempts to resolve
the threat to us have failed, and to do so only with the
support of the United States Congress and the American
people," said retired Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman John
Shalikashvili. [Source: New York Times]

48. Sept. 23, 2002 - Al Gore, the former vice president, delivers a speech to the Commonwealth
Club of San Francisco criticizing Bush's Iraq war intentions.
"By shifting from his early focus after Sept. 11 on war
against terrorism to war against Iraq, the president has
manifestly disposed of the sympathy, goodwill and solidarity
compiled by America and transformed it into a sense of
deep misgiving and even hostility." [Source: Washington
Post]

49. Sept. 24, 2002 - Tony Blair unveils a dossier of evidence on Saddam Hussein's possession
of weapons of mass destruction. The dossier, based on
British and U.S. intelligence, was criticized for not
revealing convincing evidence pointing to the need for
Saddam's immediate removal. [Source: Associated Press]

50. Sept. 25, 2002 - Sen. Tom Daschle accuses President Bush of politicizing the Iraq debate.
"That is wrong," he said. "We ought not politicize this
war. We ought to politicize the rhetoric about war and
life and death." [Source: Associated Press]

51. Sept. 26, 2002 - Defense Secretary Rumsfeld says at a Pentagon briefing, "We do have
solid evidence of the presence in Iraq of Al Qaeda members,
including some that have been in Baghdad. We have what
we consider to be very reliable reporting of senior-level
contacts going back a decade, and of possible chemical-
and biological-agent training." [Source: New
York Times]

52. Sept. 26, 2002 - Former secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger
testify before Congress on whether the U.S. should invade
Iraq. Both agree that Saddam poses a threat to the security
of the Gulf region as well as to the U.S. states through
potential alliances with terrorists. [Source: C-SPAN]

53. Sept. 27, 2002 - House Majority Leader Richard
Gephardt writes an op-ed in the New York
Times calling for support for the president as he carries
out the war against terrorism. Sen. Edward Kennedy,
D-Mass.,
says "The administration has not made a convincing
case that we face such an imminent threat to our national
security
that a unilateral, preemptive American strike and an
immediate war are necessary. [Sources: New York
Times, Los Angeles Times]

54. Sept. 27, 2002 - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announces that the Bush
Administration cited a non-existent report said to be
from 1998 on Iraq's supposed imminent nuclear capability.
"There's never been a report like that issued from this
agency," said Mark Gwozdecky, an IAEA spokesman. [Source:
Washington Times]

55. Sept. 28, 2002 - The U.S. and Britain attempt unsuccessfully to get other permanent
members of the U.N. Security Council to back a resolution
threatening Iraq with military action. China, France and
Russia remain unconvinced of Bush and Blair's case against
Saddam. [Source: The Guardian (U.K.)]

56. Sept. 28, 2002 - Between 150,000 and 400,000 protesters march against war in Iraq in
central London. (Estimates vary according to which news
organization is reporting). [Source: New York Times
- CNN, The Guardian]

57. Sept. 29, 2002 - Congressmen Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and David Bonior, D-Mich., visit
Iraq to assess humanitarian conditions and criticize Bush's
war plans. "They [Iraqi officials] said they would allow
us to go look anywhere we wanted," said McDermott on ABC's
"This Week." "And until they don't do that, there is no
need to this coercive stuff where you bring in helicopters
and armed people and storm buildings." [Source: Reuters]

59.Oct. 1, 2002
(Time Approximate 16:30 EDT) - Within hours of the Blix
announcement President Bush reacts negatively to the agreement
reached between Iraq and weapons inspectors. "We're just
not going to accept something that is weak," he said.
Bush urges the U.N. to "put some calcium in the backbone"
of an alternative resolution for dealing with Iraq. On
an alternative congressional resolution drafted by Senators
Biden and Lugar of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
Bush says, "I don't want a resolution that ties my hands...What
I won't accept is something that allows Saddam Hussein
to continue to lie, deceive the world," Bush said.
"I'm just not going to accept something that is weak.
It's not worth it - the United Nations must show its backbone
and we'll work with members of the Security Council to
put a little calcium there, put some calcium in the backbone,
so this organization is more likely to keep the peace
as we go down the road." [Sources: Washington
Post, Associated Press]